In recent years, advances in technology have led to substantial changes in the design of automobiles. One of the changes involves the complexity of the electrical systems within automobiles, particularly alternative fuel vehicles, such as hybrid, electric, and fuel cell vehicles. Such alternative fuel vehicles typically use one or more electric motors, perhaps in combination with another actuator, to drive the wheels. Additionally, such automobiles may also include other motors, as well as other high voltage components, to operate the other various systems within the automobile, such as the air conditioner.
Due to the fact that alternative fuel automobiles typically include only direct current (DC) power supplies, direct current-to-alternating current (DC/AC) inverters (or power inverters) are provided to convert the DC power to alternating current (AC) power, which is generally required by the motors. Such vehicles, particularly fuel cell vehicles, also often use two separate voltage sources, such as a battery and a fuel cell, to power the electric motors that drive the wheels. Thus, power converters are typically also provided to manage and transfer the power from the two voltage sources.
It is desirable to provide power converters and other electronic components with improved performance, as well as layouts and configurations that improve scalability and modularity in view of multiple applications. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.